The Senate yesterday approved the Agriculture Funding Bill which included an amendment proposed by industry allies Sens. Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin and industry critic, Sen. Richard Durbin. This amendment provides the FDA with $1 million in additional funding for the regulation of dietary supplements, including $250,000 to be allocated to the completion of the scientific review of ephedra.

According to the NNFA (National Nutritional Foods Association), the amendment to the agriculture bill, Hatch said, was a “down payment” on S. 1538, which would provide FDA with additional resources over a multi-year period to enfoce DSHEA.